Spring Fling no longer secret for Santa Fe Trails bicycling

Well, the news must have got out. Last weekend's Spring Fling Criterium had more riders, and in some fields, twice as many riders. The day started cold — 22 degrees.

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By Brendan Sheehan

The Leavenworth Times - Leavenworth, KS

By Brendan Sheehan

Posted Mar. 8, 2013 at 7:40 PM

By Brendan Sheehan

Posted Mar. 8, 2013 at 7:40 PM

Lawrence, Kan.

Well, the news must have got out.

Last weekend's Spring Fling Criterium had more riders, and in some fields, twice as many riders. The day started cold — 22 degrees.

Our riders were in good spirits.

The men's masters 35-plus saw Art Mathisen, Armando Paralta, Zach Owen and myself compete. Despite hard work at the front, numerous attacks and excellent position, we came away with no points in this race. The competition was fierce.

The next race was the women's category 4 race. The ladies road courageously. Missy Holstead and Anita Gonzalez rode well but garnered no points.

The juniors stepped up next. Despite freezing temperatures, they were in high spirits. John Finnegan and Abby Olson took second and third place respectively. Great job!

Next was the men's category 4/5 race. The host team, GP Velotek, controlled the race with five riders at the front.

Mathisen and Peralta rode strongly at the front of the field as did Owen. We tried attacks, which were brought back. Armando did take top 10 in the final sprint; however, places were only to top eight.

The men's category 5 race saw improvement by every racer on our team. James Lee won the first sprint. He caught a "flyer" — that's a rider who has leapt off the front of the pack.

The rider had over a 30-yard lead. James chased him down, rode his wheel and won the sprint. He also finished strongly on the final lap to take fifth overall.

Great job by all the category 5 men including Matt Doolan, Alex Ardussi, Mike Miller, Bill Cole, Gene Lamb and Roger Harrison.

There will be no criterium at Clinton Lake today. Instead, there will be road races at Lake Perry and in Columbia, Mo., on Sunday. Shawn Morelli raced for our team on March 3 at the Perry Lake Road Race. This is a cool event. The race consists of a five-mile circuit that Shawn rode five times.

The circuit has a long steep climb, followed by a crosswind section on a dam, followed by rolling hills and then back to the long climb.

Shawn won the climb on the "Queen of the Mountains” lap. She led the entire race, but lacked the strength on the final climb. Shawn took second on the final lap.

Special thanks to Roger Harrison for supporting our team with a heater, encouragement and photos.